Hilltoppers Travel to Clarksville to Take on Austin Peay

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball heads to Clarksville, Tenn. for a midweek contest with Austin Peay on Tuesday, March 12 at 6 p.m. CT.

LAST TIME OUT
• WKU earned a 3-1 series win over Milwaukee last weekend.
• The Hilltoppers blanked the Panthers 5-0 on Friday with an eight-strikeout performance by starting pitcher Jack Bennett and three home runs from the Tops offense to claim the series opener.
• WKU and Milwaukee split the Saturday doubleheader with the Hilltoppers winning game one 8-3 and the Panthers earning the 6-5 win in a 12-inning game two.
• A five-run eighth inning on Sunday helped WKU clinch the series with an 11-7 victory over Milwaukee.

BROWNING EARNS CUSA HITTER OF THE WEEK
• Junior Brady Browning was named the Conference USA Hitter of the Week, as announced by league officials Monday afternoon.
• Browning, a native of Madison, Fla., tallied 17 total bases this weekend going 7-for-15 (.467) with three home runs, a double, six RBI, five runs scored, and a slugging percentage of 1.133 in a series win over Milwaukee.
• The Hilltopper third baseman had a couple solo shots and a two-run bomb in the first three games of the series and followed that up with a 4-for-5 performance with two RBI, a double, and a run scored in the series finale on Sunday to help lead the Tops to a series-clinching victory.
• Browning currently owns a .294 batting average and leads the squad with four homers this season.

THE SACRIFICE PLAY
• WKU leads the nation in sacrifice bunts with 25 this season thus far.
• In two years with Marc Rardin at the helm, WKU ranks second in the country with 81 sacrifice bunts, only trailing Wofford that has tallied 104 since the beginning of the 2023 season.
• Zayd Brannigan, Joey Baran, and Caleb Marmo all rank top 50 in the nation in individual sacrifice bunts.
• Brannigan sits at second with six while Baran and Marmo are tied for 29th with three each.

MOMENTUM SHIFTING
• After dropping three straight, the Hilltoppers have won five of their last six and are looking to continue the momentum this week against Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri State.
• After a series split with West Virginia and a series win over Milwaukee last weekend, WKU has officially hit double-digit wins and is five games over .500 with just under two weeks until the beginning of Conference USA play.

SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and Austin Peay have met 164 times in program history with the Hilltoppers owning a 100-63-1 series lead.
• The squads met twice last season with the Hilltoppers taking the first game 8-2 at Nick Denes Field while the Governors earned a 12-11 win on their home field.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 11-6 after a series win over Milwaukee last weekend.
• The Hilltoppers have three players hitting over .300, led by junior Blake Cavill (.373) with junior Ethan Lizama (.316) and sophomore Dylan O'Connell (.304) not far behind.
• On the mound, WKU holds a 3.87 team ERA with 161 strikeouts in 149.0 innings.

SCOUTING THE GOVERNORS
• Austin Peay is 11-4 after dropping two of three at Auburn last weekend.
• The Governors are led by Jon Jon Gazdor at plate, hitting .413.
• The Austin Peay pitching staff has produced a 6.71 team ERA and has recorded 142 strikeouts in 126.0 frames.

How to follow WKU Baseball: For complete information on WKU Hilltopper Baseball, visit WKUSports.com or follow the program via social media @WKU_Baseball on Twitter and @WKUBaseball Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Joey Baran

Jack Bennett

Zayd Brannigan

Brady Browning

Blake Cavill

Ethan Lizama

Caleb Marmo

Dylan O'Connell